When 1-10 Colorado ends its dismal season Friday against Utah, I don’t see defensive coordinator Greg Brown surviving the weekend.

In fact, do not be surprised if second-year coach Jon Embree doesn’t already have a defensive coordinator in mind to take his place.

Brown probably figures this will happen but he won’t receive any official word until after the season. He’s been in this game a while. He worked in the NFL where head coaches and their staffs are as disposable as athletic tape. He also sees the numbers.

California — Coach Jeff Tedford could meet with athletic director Sandy Barbour as early as Sunday about his future. The Golden Bears are 3-8 this year and 15-21 the last three years. A loss at Oregon State in the season finale Saturday will be the first time in 28 years Cal has lost its last five games of a season. This marks the second time in three years Cal won’t go to a bowl game.

USC — NFL scouts like QB Matt Barkley as a first-rounder but say he’s only average physically. They say Marqise Lee would be first receiver taken if he could come out which he can’t. Robert Woods is considered more of a possession receiver. However, the player in Saturday’s USC-UCLA game they really like is UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley.

Arizona — Backup B.J. Denker is preparing like a starter in case Matt Scott (concussion) can’t go against Colorado. He’ll “likely be under center,” according to the Arizona Daily Star. The coaches haven’t cut down the playbook for him who was advised by Scott, “Get the tempo going.”

Arizona State — After giving up 36 points in each of three straight losses to Oregon, UCLA and Oregon State, battered Sun Devils defense visits Matt Barkley and USC.

Oregon —Four of 16 Maxwell Award semifinalists will be on field in Los Angeles for the Oregon-USC matchup at 5 p.m. MDT Saturday. The game will feature the league’s top scorer in Oregon tailback Kenjon Barner, receiver in USC’s Marqise Lee, punt returner in Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas and kickoff returner in Lee. Also, USC quarterback Matt Barkley is a semifinals for the Maxwell, given to college football’s top player.

Arizona State — Tailback D.J. Foster has shot at Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

Polk has been out since the opener against Colorado State with a high ankle sprain. Since his injury, the Buffaloes’ young secondary has been shredded. It’s 118th in pass efficiency defense and in 90 minutes will face the preseason Heisman favorite in USC quarterback Matt Barkley.

However, starting right tackle Jack Harris is out with a concussion. In his place is expected to be redshirt freshman Stephane Nembot. That would be a nice treat for USC defensive end Morgan Breslin who leads the Trojans with seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss.

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USC is full of future NFL draft picks but the one man I’m keeping an eye on Saturday in the Coliseum is Colorado safety Ray Polk. The senior hasn’t played a game healthy in two years. He played most of last year with a broken sternum and he hasn’t played this year since suffering a high ankle sprain in the opener against Colorado State.

The Buffaloes’ peach-fuzz secondary desperately needs him. They play two true freshmen in their nickel package and have been making mistakes all year.

He’s listed as questionable for Saturday, which means he’ll probably play. Last year USC’s Matt Barkley threw six touchdown passes at Colorado. This year, his weaker stats have been scrutinized by everyone in southern California. His line is certainly weaker. However, he’s also four TD passes from breaking Matt Leinart’s team and Pac-12 career touchdown marks of 99.

Colorado is 118th out of 124 schools in pass efficiency defense (162.1), having given up 20 TD passes and intercepting only three. Let’s see if Polk can play, then let’s see if he can make a difference.

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley reacts after throwing a touchdown pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Colorado, Saturday, Oct.20, 2012, in Los Angeles.

A look around the Pac-12 Conference Wednesday morning:

USC — Quarterback Matt Barkley and receiver Robert Woods on verge of career marks against Colorado. Barkley, who threw six touchdowns at Colorado last year, needs four to break the school and conference record of 99 set by Matt Leinart (2003-05. Woods needs five catches to become the school’s career leader.

This year’s Heisman Trophy race seemed like a hot potato with Matt Barkley, then Montee Ball, then Landry Jones throwing it away, leaving it as wide open as I’ve ever seen.

It’s wide open no more.

Geno Smith went Pop Warner on Baylor Saturday. The numbers are too boggling to comprehend: 45-of-51 for 656 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions. It’s not like West Virginia poured it on. It only won, 70-63.

I wanted to blame Baylor’s defense. But it returned its top five defensive backs from last year’s 10-3 team. Obviously something’s missing. The Bears narrowly escaped Louisiana-Monroe the week before, 47-42. But I couldn’t. Watching Smith in the second half, he was absolutely pinpoint perfect.

Now he’s having a season for the ages. After wins over Marshall, James Madison, Maryland and Baylor, Smith is an astounding 141-of-169 (.834) for 1,728 yards with 20 TDs and, get this, ZERO interceptions. No other candidate is even close.

Out from the gray cloud that was the pitiful Big East, Smith will be able to impress more against a tougher Big 12 schedule. The Mountaineers visit No. 12 Texas next Saturday then travel to Texas Tech before hosting seventh-ranked Kansas State and No. 15 TCU before visiting Oklahoma State.

If Smith puts up half these numbers and keeps the No. 9 Mountaineers in the top 10, he’ll lock up the Heisman by mid-November.

Today’s college football schedule stinks. There are only two games matching Top 25 teams: No. 9 West Virginia at No. 25 Baylor and No. 14 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State. And since Ohio State at Michigan State is in the Big Ten it doesn’t really count.

Here are the games I find the most intriguing:

No. 12 Texas (3-0) at Oklahoma State (2-1), 5:50 p.m. MDT. These two teams have had wild games in the past and this one should be, too. Oklahoma State appears to have major defensive problems and Texas seems to have solved its offensive problems from last year with red-hot sophomore quarterback David Ash. Stillwater is a real tough place to play, much harder than Austin, and a night start will make it even crazier.

No. 18 Oregon State (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) at Arizona (3-1, 0-1). Are the Beavers that good? No other team in the country has beaten two top 20 teams this year and Arizona was ranked until getting drubbed at Oregon last week. Both teams are the most improved in the conference and I want to see how OSU’s revamped defense does against Arizona’s explosive spread offense. I want to see if said spread offense can show a pulse in the red zone after going zip-for-6 at Oregon.

No. 25 Baylor (3-0) at No. 9 West Virginia (3-0), 10 a.m. West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is the leader by default of a dwindling Heisman Trophy race. Baylor misses last year’s defense as much as Robert Griffin III. Smith could run up big numbers and put himself in prime position for the next two months of the Heisman watch. If he flops, he’ll join the likes of Matt Barkley, Montee Ball and Landry Jones on the outside looking in.

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UCLA — Colorado freshman Christian Powell is adjusting to life at tailback after switching commitment from UCLA in January. He switched to follow Upland (Calif.) High teammates Donta Abron and Marques Mosley to Boulder. Powell, who did average 10 yards a carry as a fullback for Upland, leads the Buffaloes in rushing with 265 yards. Abron, who had 1,754 yards for 12-1 Upland last year, has 12 yards on six carries. The trio play UCLA Saturday in Boulder.

In light of the Arizona-Oregon showdown in Eugene, it’s time to open the Where Are They Now Department. Today we feature Darron Thomas, the record-setting engineer of Oregon’s high-flying offense.

Remember him? He was injured when Oregon destroyed Colorado last year, 45-2, but wound up breaking the school’s single-season touchdown pass record with 33 on his way to a school-record 66 career TD passes, including three in the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin.

What’s he doing now? Sitting at home in Houston. With another year of eligibility left, he came out to the NFL early.

“I saw what Cam Newton did this year (in the NFL),” Thomas said at the time. “He took his raw talent and made a spark. I can do those things, too.”

Unfortunately, Newton has more raw talent than Thomas as his disappointing 4.8 40 time at the NFL Combine proved. He didn’t get drafted. He didn’t sign as a free agent. Mini-camp tryouts with Arizona, Pittsburgh and Cleveland didn’t result in a contract.

So he sits home and works out with his old buddies at Aldine High waiting for the call. Meanwhile, red-shirt freshman Marcus Mariota has taken Thomas’ fame and led Oregon to a No. 3 ranking.

According to Bob Jones, Thomas’ coach at Aldine, Thomas got tired of playing in others’ shadows in the Pac-12. Last year it was Andrew Luck; this year it would’ve been Matt Barkley.

“If Barkley would have come out,” Jones told reporters, “Darron would have stayed.”

Southern California coach Lane Kiffin said he has opened up the competition at left offensive tackle after Stanford sacked Matt Barkley four times in the Cardinal’s 21-14 upset win Saturday. USC also rushed for only 26 net yards.

“Aundray responded really well to the adversity of that competition set forward,” Kiffin said on Tuesday’s Pac-12 Conference call. “I thought Max Tuerk did really well as well so we’ll see. It could be a situation where both of them play.”

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In my 10 Questions Facing the Pac-12 on Aug. 31, I asked whether Oregon or USC would play for the national title. I said no. I didn’t trust Oregon running the table with a freshman quarterback and I thought USC’s NCAA-depleted depth would make it stumble sooner or later.

Turns out, it was sooner rather than later.

Still, I don’t see USC’s title hopes dashed after Saturday’s loss to Stanford, nor do I think quarterback Matt Barkley is out of the Heisman race. USC dropped to 12th in the coaches poll, one of the three elements in the BCS formula. No. 1 Alabama or No. 2 LSU will knock each other out when they meet in Baton Rouge Nov. 3. USC hosts No. 3 Oregon on that same day.

No. 4 Florida State finishes the season at Virginia Tech and Maryland before hosting Florida. No. 5 Oklahoma has a brutal schedule — with Notre Dame in the middle — and I don’t see any of the rest in the top 10 going unbeaten.

In three of its last four games, USC plays Oregon, UCLA and Notre Dame, all likely to be ranked, and all likely to catapult the Trojans over others if they win.

As for Barkley, there is no Heisman race. It’s wide open it hasn’t even started yet. West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is putting up numbers but has played no one and Oregon’s De’Anthony Thomas must share the ball with too many weapons at Oregon. Jonathan Fields? Sure, if UCLA makes a run at the Pac-12 crown. Yeah, I don’t see it, either.

But USC’s loss has made the conference race as interesting as it has in years, probably before Pete Carroll arrived in 1991. The only thing we know is what the worst team in the league is.

UCLA — Johnathan Franklin leads nation in rushing with 215.5 yards per game but have Heisman voters noticed?: http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/football/la-sp-0911-franklin-ucla-heisman-20120911,0,5812976.story. Heismanpundit.com lists him only under “Others to watch.” UCLA hasn’t had a player finish in the top three since quarterback Cade McNown in 1998.

Arizona State — Sophomore running back Deantre Lewis will get a look on defense: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/20120910asu-football-running-back-deantre-lewis-get-look-defense.html.

Oregon — Guard Carson York out for year with broken knee cap after senior safety John Boyett goes down with season-ending surgery on both knees: http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/28731782-41/york-oregon-saturday-season-guard.html.csp.

Oregon State — Beavers basking in glow of near shutout of then-No. 13 Wisconsin, 10-7: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2012/09/oregon_state_defense_basks_in.html.

I heard some grumbling on sports talk radio (is that a contradiction in terms?) about USC coach Lane Kiffin having starting quarterback Matt Barkley go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter, leading Hawaii, 42-10.

On that fourth down, Barkley threw an 11-yard TD pass to Randall Telfer for a 49-10 score that held up. Yet the Trojans still lost their top spot in the poll to Alabama, which beat then-No. 8 Michigan, 41-14.

Here’s what bothers me: USC may not have lost its No. 1 spot if it kept pouring it on in the fourth quarter. Would voters had dropped USC if it won 63-10? Doubtful. Would USC have scored two more touchdowns if Kiffin hadn’t lifted Barkley after that score? Probably. Would Barkley have gotten hurt for the year if he played the whole game? Possibly.

Wilcox came from Tennessee after Nick Holt’s unit gave up a school-record 467 points last year, including a 67-56 Alamo Bowl loss to Baylor. Holt and two defensive assistants were fired and Wilcox was brought in to emphasize more man-to-man coverage in the secondary.

The NFL hasn’t drafted a UCLA quarterback in 13 years. A lack of competition and injuries are reasons but this is the same school that produced the likes of Bob Waterfield, Gary Beban, and Troy Aikman.

Colorado football coach Jon Embree will be accompanied by junior offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and senior free safety Ray Polk for Tuesday’s Pac-12 media day activities at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

Bakhtiari, 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds, has been listed on several preseason all-Pac-12 teams after having been named second-team all-conference by the league’s coaches following the 2011 season. From the San Franciso Bay Area, he was a full-time starter at left tackle last season after having started at guard as a redshirt freshman in 2010.

Polk, 6-1 and 205 pounds, will be a full-time starter in the Colorado secondary for the third year after having made three starts in 2009 as a redshirt freshman. Despite playing last season with several injuries, including a cracked sternum, the Arizonian ranked second on the team with 80 tackles, behind only the 85 stops recorded by linebacker Jon Major.

Colorado is first up for media-day team interviews, beginning its 20-minute session at 10:15 a.m. Mountain time. Video will be posted on Pac-12.org.

I will be on-site for media day, blogging and writing live for denverpost.com and The Denver Post print edition.

Here’s the full schedule (Mountain daylight time) for Tuesday, July 24:

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.